Nobody likes asking difficult questions, more so when it comes to hiring others to perform a specialized skill or service for us. We typically hope to just find the best person, within our budget, and have them take care of everything. However, questioning potential clients in the design industry is vitally important to understanding the clients needs, and goals. However, there’s much more to it than that. When I first started Freelancing… I began freelancing full time almost seven years ago. When a project inquiry came through to my inbox, I’d immediately hit my reply button and ask the sender a few quick questions like “what’s your design budget?” and “do you have any existing brand materials I can see?”. Shortly after figuring out what this company or person did (or so I thought) I’d send them an estimate for their project and want to get started as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the majority of these in queries never turned into projects, and for about two years I had to actively seek new clients as a means to bring in new projects. I was completely overlooking the opportunity to fully understand the clients needs, goals and business. Through trial and error of asking over fifty diffident questions, I’d come up with around ten really important questions that were landing me more projects, and helping me understand my clients and their goals much more effectively so that I could decide which projects were worth perusing. Here’s what I think are the best questions to ask a client before you begin a design project. 1. What will a successful completion of...

SEO Myths – Search Engine Optimization (SEO), your Google ranking, placement, etc.. Whatever you call it, I’m here to dispel the myths and give you my input on maximizing your efforts properly. When I started learning about web design, SEO was a huge part of building successful websites that I had overlooked in the early stages. It wasn’t until I was making major changes to my website three years ago that I needed a plan on how to implement SEO correctly on my site. Learning about Search Engine Optimization also gave me added value to my clients when I’d design and build them a website. Not only did I have client work for web design projects, but I was able to practice my S.E.O “tactics” if you will, and hone them with trial and error at no additional cost to my client(s). Let’s start with the myths. Things you may believe to be true about SEO and what the truths are behind these SEO myths. SEO Myths and Mythbusting Myths and rumors can be built and explode overnight. Listening to these can really do some damage to your website and business. Much like opinions, any information on the internet could be taken in a multitude of ways, and it’s not hard to start panicking about things that pick up momentum. Honestly, i’d suggest you nip all negative thoughts in the bud before they bloom into an SEO thorn-bush, and instead begin researching SEO tips or strategies from reputable sources like Google, Moz, WooRank, and other large names. It doesn’t take long to narrow down what you should be doing,...

There’s a lot to be said for designing better business cards. In this post I want to give you some tips and ideas that will help you evaluate your current business cards, and… Come up with “not the norm” designs that stand out for the right reasons. Reconsider decisions you currently make in your design process. Different print and finishing options Define your business cards purpose, and effectively achieve that purpose. Look at Other Peoples Business Cards Evaluating other peoples business cards is something I always do out of habit. I tend not to read into the general design so much as I used to, but most people do, and they do it subconsciously. Without realizing, if someone hands you a busy and cluttered business card, it feels overwhelming. Most of the time there’s little to no place for the eyes to settle and read information because there’s simply just too much information, or too many images on that card. The same can be said for one color cards. I’m sure you’ve picked up, or been handed a card like this before. These type of cards can be effective, and we’ll touch on that later in this post. However, for the most part, these types of cards are usually budget business cards, and on occasion are just a poor design choice of the card owner. If you have any business cards like this in your collection, take a look at them and study the layout and card stock they’re printed on. What makes that card stand out and why? Diversify Your Business Card Design Perhaps in your accumulation of...

Here’s a set of Free Halloween Vector Faces perfect for your next spooky print or digital design. Things are getting a little creepy in the month of October. Halloween is almost here, and I thought I’d share these cute little Halloween Vectors with you. So if you’re getting ready for that next client project, or just have a spooky design in mind, you’re in luck. Here’s five Free Halloween Vector Faces for your next spooktacular project! You can download these below. Download FREE...

So you want to know how to edge paint business cards? When is comes to business cards, everyone is looking for that little something to set their cards off and make them stand out. Edge painting businesses cards is a great way of introducing a jolt of color and adds extra interest to your cards. Unfortunately, having your cards sent to a boutique printer or finisher for edge painting can be time consuming and expensive. So, here’s a step-by-step guide on how I painted the edges of my business cards. Edge Painting Preparation Before I started painting my cards, I took the cardboard backer from an old note pad to use as a mat. I’d recommend using a sturdy card as a mat for your cards to sit on. Newspaper or wax paper is very thin and wax paper is not absorbent at all, so you’ll likely have a lot of wet paint or ink sitting at the base of your card stack while you wait for your painted cards to dry. Next, I knocked my cards into a block by holding them in a small stack (around 10-15 cards) making sure all my edges were as even as possible. This is probably the most important step. If you don’t get your cards knocked into a uniform block, chances are your paint will bleed and seep onto the faces and backs of your business cards. I set a scrap piece of cardboard on top of my business cards to prevent any paint from getting on the face of my top card. I also used the card to help me...

Here’s a set of free social media icons (with .psd file) that I recently created. Occasionally as a creative freelancer, there’s files that never get used. These kinds of files may be Illustrator graphics, PSD files that a client didn’t approve, or the likes that just never got to see the light of day for one or more reasons. I recently needed to create a few flat social media icons for a client project, some of which were used online, and some that weren’t. So, I figured I’d turn the icons into a set with the likes of Google plus, Linkdin, Dribble etc… then distribute them for free in the hopes that someone can make use of them. These social media icons come in three sizes (32×32, 64×64, and 120×120) are delivered in png format and includes the PSD file with smart objects and vector based shapes for you to easily edit and customize them for your exact needs. You can download these social media icons below. Download FREE...